Artificial arm



F. E. WHEELER ET AL ARTIFICIAL ARM Feb. 5, 1935.

Filed July', 1953 T g. E

2 sheets-sheet 1 l ,6 25 I3 ze 10 -3o /4 28 I8 f 4, i :5;- 40

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WHEELER. .H. EMBER TON.

7 INVENTORS.

Feb. 5, 1935. F. El WHEELER ET AL 1,989,950

ARTIFICIAL ARM Filed July 3, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 l 'LE' 'i 9. E

IN VEN TORS E. E. WHEELER. w H. EMERTo/v.

ATTORNE Patented Feb. 5, 1935 PATENT `OFFICE ARTIFICIAL ARM Frank E. Wheeler, Arcadia, and William H. Emberton, Monrovia, Calif. v

Application July 3, 1933, Serial No. 678,876

8 Claims.

' This invention relates to improvements `in artificial limb members.

'Ihe general object of the invention is to provide an improved artificial arm. Y

Another object of the invention vis to Vprovid an improved articial arm having a novel hand removably connected thereto.

A further object-of the invention is to provide an artiiicial arm'comprising a plurality of novel jointed sections which may be actuated by movement of the wearers body.

An additional object of the invention is to provide an improved artificial hand havinga movable member thereon which may be actuated by movement of portions of the wearers body.

Other objects and the advantages of this invention will be apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein: A

Fig. 1 is a view showing our improvedartiiicial arm and hand operatively mounted; 1

Fig. 2 is an'enlarged central vertical section-of our articial arm and showing the hand'in'elevation;

Fig; 3 isa bottom plan view'of tlierend of the arm; A

Fgf4' isa section taken on line 4-4 of Fig-2;

Fig."`5 is a fragmentary elevation of one side ofthearm; j" j Fig. 6 is a view similar to'Fig. '2 showing the artificial arm bent back upon itself to' an extreme position; j

Fig. 7 is a section throughthe hand taken on line 7 7 of Fig. 2; and, r` l z Fig. 8 isa face'view of'a'spoon implement which may be positioned on the arm in place of the hand.

Referring to the drawingsby reference characters we have indicated our improved artificial armproper generally at 10, and the hand generally at 12. As shown the arm 10 comprises three sections 13, 14 and 15 each of which are made of a strong light metal such asa .metal alloy. The section 13 includes a hollow cylindrical body por-4 tion 16 which at its upper end terminates ina transverse plane face and at the lower end terminates beveled'face 17. The section.14 includes va similar hollow cylindrical body portion 18 which at its upper end terminates in a beveled face 19 which matches the beveled face 17 0 of the section 13. Thebeveled Iface 19 terminates ina plane face 17' at right angles to the axis of the section 14. At its lowerend the body 18 terminates in a beveled face 20 similar to the face 19.

The 'section 15 like the sections 13'and 14'in'- cludes a hollow cylindrical -body portion 21 which at its lower end terminates in a transverse plane face and at its upper end terminates in a beveled face 22 which matches the beveled face 20 of the section 14. 'Ihe beveled face 5 terminates in a plane face 22 at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the section 15.

Adjacent the upper end of the section 13, we provide in the body 16 a metal plug 23 having a central threaded aperture 24 therein. Adjacent 10 the lower end of the body 16 we provide a transverse metal-partition or supporting member 25 having integral therewith a downwardly extending -lug 26 which is positioned atl one side of the axis of the body. Adjacent the opposite side of l5 the body the partition has an aperture 27 therethrough. Adjacent the lower end of the-body V18 of the section 14-we provide a transverse metal partition 28 having integral therewith a {downwardly extending lug 29 and an upwardly vex- 20 tending yoke 30. The'lug 29 and yoke v30 of the section 14 are in line with the lug 26 of the section 13. The partition 28 includes an aperture 31'in alignment with the aperture 27.

" Adjacent its upper end the arm includes a 25 forkedrportion 32 which straddles the lug 26 of the section 1-3 and ris pivotally securedthereto by a pin33. Adjacent the forked portion 32 of the yoke 30 we fprovide a transverse pin 34 which passes through thearm 30 and is supported by the body 18 for bracing the arm 30.

For retaining the sections 13 and 14 in coaxial alignment we' provideV a coiled spring 35. At one end thercoiled spring 35 passes through the aperture 27 in tthe portion 25`and is anchored to 35 a pin 36 andthe opposite endof the lspring passes through the aperture 31jin the partition 28 and is anchored to a pin 37.

y Intermediate the length of the body 15 we provide a transverse metal partition 38 having an 40 integral upwardly extendingjyoke 39 which is in line with the lug 29 of the section 14. Adjacent its upper end the yoke 39 includes a forked portion 40 which straddles the lug 29 of the section 14 and is pivotally secured thereto by a pin 41. 45 Adjacent the intersectionof the yoke 39 and the partition 38 the yoke 39 has ,an aperture 42 therethrough and the partition 38'includes a communicating aperture 43. l

Positioned in lthe body 2l adjacent the lower 50 end thereof we provide a nietal plug 44 having a central aperture 45 therein. Opening into the aperture v45 we provide a pair of opposed slots 46 which extend the full length of the aperture. Opening through the upper surface of the plug ,5,5

44 and into the aperture 45 we provide a pair of opposed recesses 47 which are arranged at right angles to the slots 46.

For retaining the section 15 coaxial with the section 14 we provide a coiled spring 48. The spring 48 passes through the aperture 43 in the partition 38 and is anchored to a pin 49. The opposite end of the spring 48 passes through an aperture 50 provided in the body 18 of the section 14 and `is anchored to a pin 51. The pin 51 is longer than the width of the aperture 50 which is held in place by the tension of the spring 48 pulling it against the body 21.

For attaching the arm 10 to a persons body any standard type of harness such as indicated at 52 and including a base member 53 may be used. The base member 53 is shown as a socket ,member adapted to iit over the strunp of an arm and includes a metal portion 54 having a threaded stem 55 extending therefrom. rIhe arm l0 is secured to the base member 53 by threaded engagement of the stem 55 in the threaded aperture 24 of the arm section 13.

For operating the arm 10 a cord 56 such as a gut thong `is connected to the arm section 15 as at 57 and threaded through a guide eyelet 58 on the arm section 13 and guide eyelets 59 on the base member 53 and extends downward and is attached to a portion of the wearers apparel such as a belt loop as indicated at 60.

In operation when the wearer swings his arm stump upward beyond a predetermined point the cord 56 swings the section 15 about its axis 41 towards the base 53 and when the section 15 reaches a position at right angles to the section 14 the face 22 engages the section 14 and swings the section 14 about its axis 33 towards the base 53 as shown in Fig. 6, until the limit of movement is reached when the face 17 engages the section 13. When the wearer swings his arm stump downward the springs 35 and 48 return the sections 14 and 15 to their normal coaxial positions.

The hand 12 is made of a strong light Weight material such as a metal alloy and includes a hollow body portion 61 which is formed to represent the palm and fingers 62 of a human hand. A hollow metal member 63 shaped to represent a human thumb is pivotally secured tothe body 61 as ,at 64. The upper end of the body 61 is shown as open and is closed by a plug memberl 65. A coiled tension spring 66 is provided for normally retaining the thumb 63 out of engagement with the fingers 62.

One end of the spring 66 is anchored to a pin 67 in the body 61 and the opposite end passes through an enlarged aperture 68 in the body and is anchored to a pin 69 in the thumb 63. Extending outward from the plug 65 we provide a stem 70 which adjacent the plug includes an enlarged base 71 and adjacent the opposite end has a transversely extending pin 72 therein which projects outward from the sides thereof. Surrounding the stem 70 we provide a frusto-conical coiled spring 73 having the smaller end thereof secured to the stem adjacent the base 71.

When attaching the hand 12 to the arm 10 the stem 70 is positioned in the aperture 45 of the arm section 15 with the projecting portions of the pin 72 positioned in the slots 46. The stem 70 is then moved towards the arm against the action of the spring 73 until the pin 72 clears the inner face of the plug 44 (see Fig. 4). Thereafter the hand is turned to a position wherein the pin 72 is at right angles to the slots 46 and then the hand is moved away from the arm whereupon the projecting portions of the pin 72 are positioned in the recesses 47 of the arm (see Fig. 2).

For actuating the thumb 63 we provide a cord 74 such as a gut thong, one end of which is connected to the thumb 63, as at 75. The cord 74 extends through an aperture 76 in the hand 61 around a guide 77 and passes out of the hand through an `aperture 78 in the plug 65. The cord may then be threaded through guide eyelets 79 provided on the arm 10 and base 53. The end of the cord 74 opposite the end 75 may be secured to a ring 80 which may be worn on one of the lingers of the wearers hand, as shown in Fig. 1. If both of a persons arms are missing the end of the cord 74 opposite the thumb of the hand l2 may be suitably connected to some other volunf tarily controlled portion of the persons body. By pulling the cord 74 the thumb 63 is swung about its pivot 64 against the action of the spring 66 towards the ngers 62, as shown in Fig. 6. When the cord is released the spring 66 returns the thumb 63 to its normal open position, as shown in Fig. 2.

In Fig. 8 we have indicated an implement such as a spoon member'i which may be attached to the arm 10 instead of the hand 12. As shown the spoon includes a shank portion 82 which is mounted on a stem 83. The stem 83 is similar to the stem 70 of the hand 12 and similar portions thereof are indicated by similarly primed reference numerals. The spoon 81 it attached to and detached from the arm 10 in the same manner as previously described in connection with the hand 12. It will be understood of course that other implements or tools other than the hand 12 and the spoon 81 may be made and attached to the arm 10.

From the foregoing description it will be apparent that we have provided a novel articial arm and hand which is simple in construction, economical to manufacture and highly efficient 1n use.

Having thus described our invention, we claim:

1. An artificial arm including a base member and a plurality of joint sections, one of said joint sections being secured to said base, said joint sections having bevelled coacting ends, means to pivotally connect said joint sections together with the adjacent bevelled ends in engagement when the arm is straightened, means to removably secure said base to a wearer and means operative upon movement of va portion of the wearers body to swing said joint sections about their pivotal points.

2. An artificial arm comprising a plurality of coaxial hollow sections positioned end to end, the abutting ends of said sections being bevelled, means to pivotally secure said sections one to the other, with the adjacent beveled ends in engagement when the arm is straightened, means to retain adjacent sections in alignment and means to swing said sections about the axis of their pivots.

3. An artificial arm, said arm including a plurality of hollow elongated sections, a supporting member rigidly mounted in each section, a lug on each supporting member, yokes on the supporting members, means to pivotally conneet said lugs and yokes vto thereby pivot the sections for swingingmovement, said sections having bevelled abutting ends with a plane transverse portion at the ends of the bevelled portions, said pivotal meansbeing disposed so that the adjacent beveled ends abut when the arm is straightened, resilient means connecting said supporting members and disposed at one side of said pivots to urge the sections normally into alignment and means to secure one of said sections upon a wearer.

4. An articial arm including a plurality of elongated sections, means to secure one of said sections to a wearer, adjacent ends of said sections being of uniform cross-section and abutting when in axial alignment and being on a plane inclined to the Iaxis of the arm when the arm is straightened, means arranged within said sec.- tions to pivotally connect said sections in the end-to-end abutting relation, resilient means within said sections to normally hold said sections in abutting relation and in axial alignment and means to swing said sections about their pivots against the action of said resilient means.

5. An tartificial arm including three hollow metal sections, means to secure one of said sections to a wearer, means arranged within said section to pivotally connect said sections in endto-end abutting relation, the meeting faces of adjacent sections being complemental and being on a plane inclined to the axis of the arm when the arm is straight, holding means within said sections to normally hold said sections in alignment, means to swing said sections about their pivots against the action of said holding means and means on said section to restrict the swinging movement.

6. An articial arm including a base member, a

section rigidly secured to the base member, an end section and an intermediate section, means to pivotally connect both said base member section and said end member section to the intermediate section with end portions abutting. means to restrict movement of said sections in one direction, resilient means to normally urge said joint sections to said restricted position, and means operative upon actuation of a portion of said persons body to swing said joint sections about their pivotal points against said resilient means.

7. An artiiicial arm including a plurality of hollow elongated sections in end-to-end relation, a supporting member rigidly mounted in an intermediate section, means on the adjacent sections hinged to each end of said supporting member to connect the sections for swinging movement, resilient means on said supporting member to urge the sections normally into alignment and means to secure one of said sections upon a wearer.

8. An artificial arm including a base member adapted to be mounted on a wearer, an end section rigid in the base member, a second end section, an intermediate portion pivotally connected to each of the end sections, said end sections and said intermediate portion having abutting faces, means to pull said abutting faces into engagement with the end sections and intermediate portion in alignment and means to actuate said arm.

FRANK E. WHEELER. W. H. EMBERTON. 

